Thiruvananthapuram: In a controversial move, the CPM has released a document defending Exalogic Solutions, a company associated with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, T Veena. This written clarification comes as the Bengaluru-based firm faces investigations from central agencies.
This is in sharp contrast to the party's silence when similar allegations targeted Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of the late CPM State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. The document criticises the Central government for allegedly distorting Exalogic's bank transactions and accuses central agencies of crafting false narratives to politically undermine the Chief Minister's development agenda. It does not explicitly mention Veena or CMRL.
The Kochi-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) is accused of paying the CM's daughter Rs 1.32 crore for services it never received.
Amidst these allegations, Exalogic challenged the Serious Fraud Investigation Office's (SFIO) probe in the Karnataka High Court but faced a setback when the court dismissed a plea to halt the investigation. The SFIO has issued a summons to Veena seeking various documents as part of the investigation into the financial dealings between CMRL and Exalogic. The Kerala High Court had earlier rejected KSIDC's request to stay the investigation.
On January 31, the Central government decided to hand over the investigation to the SFIO. The fact that KSIDC has a 13.4 per cent stake in CMRL and has a representative on the Kochi-based company's board brought the state PSU under the purview of investigation.
